CHAPTER TWO

The Colony Ships were made up of four connected ships, each dormant in space, a kind of flat, man-and-alien-made planet. The Colonies were generally home to the poorer humans, the scum of the galaxy. The third quadrant was a wealthier area, home to businesses and commuters. It was slightly cleaner, more technologically advanced. They made sure to keep guards out at all time to keep the area rid of pesky beggars and thieves. Nevertheless it had become something of a police state and was not the sparkling city it made itself to appear.

The second quadrant was a dark, commercial area where the streets and skies were packed with vehicles and small ships, and lit by neon signs advertising seedy clubs, casinos, bars and cheap motels. Towards the furthest edge of the quadrant was a loading dock, and Cash pulled the transport in. Usually cargo ships didn’t pull into an area like this unless they were selling something illegal, so Dallas was on his guard. He had no reason to believe Cash might turn on him, but he refused to have any part in some kind of stupid drug heist.

Cash backed the ship smoothly into the portal and shut it off. As he got off his chair he said, “Uh, y’can stay in here fer now if y’want.”

Dallas narrowed his eyes.

“Just a lotta shady folks out there, that’s all. Don’t wanna attract no trouble.”

“I bet,” Dallas muttered and pulled the edge of his hat down over his eyes, leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the dashboard.

He listened carefully as Cash left the control room and headed back to the cargo hold. After a minute or so, Dallas snuck out of the room and went down the dark, narrow hall towards the cargo hold. He stood close to the door and listened carefully. He heard what sounded like a man and a woman talking to Cash, telling him things like, “Thank you so much,” and, “God, just in time, we’ve really been needing these.”

Dallas sighed and returned to the control room, put his feet back up on the dashboard and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t know exactly what was back there, but he had a damn good idea of who was.

For the most part the galaxy was controlled by aliens, while humans were kept low on the proverbial food chain. The government kept them in their place, working menial jobs or trapped in dirty prisons. However, there were people who did their best to combat this oppression. They called themselves Renegade, and they were a band of soldiers and daydreaming hopefuls constantly working to free themselves from their alien rule. Their group had given birth to two smaller, more extreme organizations known as Messiah and Cain, which were rumored to be two of the most barbaric groups of humans one could ever hope to encounter in space.

Dallas wanted no part of this.

Cash entered the control room and slumped heavily into his chair.

“Did they get their pipes?” Dallas muttered, his voice laced with icy sarcasm.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, they got their pipes. Hey, I’m sick of flyin’ around, y’wanna maybe stop in someplace and getta drink or something?”

Dallas nodded. “Seems like a good way to end this, uh…partnership.”

“Yer leaving? What, y’got business around here?’

Dallas shrugged. “I might.”

Cash grinned and flicked a couple of switches to shut down the engine. “So mysterious,” he mused to himself.

Cash and Dallas walked out the lower level of the transport and stepped into a chaotic hub of lights and noises and shouting. Music blared from hundreds of nearby clubs. Cash, who obviously knew his way around, led Dallas to a tall, black building. There didn’t seem to be anyone inside except a couple of armed humans and aliens at various doors. Cash approached a small, big-eyed alien and whispered something in his ear. The alien hummed something back in a language Dallas didn’t recognize and stood aside to let them pass.

Dallas gave the alien a quick once-over and narrowed his eyes.

“What was that about?” he muttered to Cash.

Cash shrugged and waved a hand dismissively. “Alien stuff.” He laughed.

“Uh-huh.”

The bar was packed with aliens and humans, the air smoky and dense. A band was playing in a corner, but the noise was barely audible over the shouting and chatter the crowd was making. The lights were dim reds and orange and blue and it was difficult to see what was where until after it moved.

Cash took a seat at the bar and held up two fingers to the bartender, who promptly set up two shot glasses and filled them with a liquid of an indistinguishable color. Cash put a paper bill on the counter and let the bartender swipe it away.

“Alright, look,” Dallas said, half-shouting just to be heard. “I appreciate your picking me up and taking me here, but I don’t want no part in this stupid war and I’d really like it if I was never associated with you again.”

Cash stared. “Th’war?”

“I’m not stupid, kid, you think I believe you’re delivering pipes to a place like this?”

Cash’s face had gone serious. “What’d y’do, poke around th’cargo hold?”

Dallas shook his head. “Look, you wanna fight aliens, that’s fine with me, but I’d rather just stay out of the way, okay?”

Cash quietly sipped at his drink and then said something like, “Ignoring ‘em won’t make ‘em go away, y’know.”

“What?”

“Turning yer back on yer kind just ‘cause y’don’t want no part in a war isn’t exactly what I’d call brave.”

“I’ve already done enough for ‘my kind’,” Dallas snapped. “So don’t you go preaching at me, alright?”

Cash shrugged and scowled.

“Anyways, thanks for the ride. And the drink.”

“See y’around maybe,” Cash said, lifting his drink slightly, as if in a farewell toast.

Dallas downed the rest of his drink and tipped his hat. He made his way through the crowd and disappeared.

Cash sighed and turned to his own thoughts. He sipped quietly at his drink.

A large, non-human hand slapped down onto his shoulder. Cash glanced behind him at the large, bulky alien glaring down at him.

“Who let you in, human?” the alien spat, his thick accent making it difficult to distinguish what he was saying.

“The guard.”

“Listen, wise-ass, you get out of here or I’ll chew you up and spit you out and send you as a message for the rest of your rebel friends.”

Cash glanced the alien up and down. “It’s a mixed bar, y’can’t kick me out.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” the alien growled, leaning on the bar and putting his face inches away from Cash’s. “I don’t want you out because you’re human. I want you out because you’re part of that group.”

“The human group?” he grinned.

The alien narrowed his eyes and his voice lowered into a dangerous rumble. “Renegade,” he said.

Some aliens managed to hear and turned suddenly. Though Renegade strived to make amends peacefully with their alien counterparts, sometimes fighting was in order, and killing was inevitable. Plus there wasn’t a single alien in the galaxy who was about to forget about their barbaric sister groups.

Cash ran his tongue over his lips. “Look. I’ll finish my drink n’ leave. Okay? I don’t wanna be startin’ any trouble.”

“Then why’d you come in here, punk?”

“It’s a mixed bar, asshole!”

The alien backhanded Cash heavily and he flew off his stool and slammed into the crowd. Before he was even on his feet, his pistol was in hand and he’d taken two shots at the alien. Other aliens who’d been listening to the conversation jumped in and Cash found himself surrounded. His head was throbbing, the sides of his vision closing in slightly. He tasted blood in his mouth and spat it onto the ground. He took a deep breath to steady himself. This wasn’t really how he’d seen himself dying, but at least he’d go down fighting.

A voice came over the crowd, somewhere near the door. “Doesn’t really look like a fair fight to me.”

Dallas was standing with his feet placed firmly on the ground, his arms crossed over his chest.

The large alien recognized him instantly from earlier and made a run for him. Dallas whipped out his gun and shot him directly between the eyes. The alien fell to the ground, dead. The aliens that had been circling Cash made a run for Dallas. Other humans began fighting other aliens, aliens began fighting humans, and Dallas shouted at Cash to follow him and run.

They bolted out from the bar, down the large, dingy hallway and out the building.

“I thought you left!” Cash called out to Dallas as they ran around the perimeter of the building and onto a skyway.

“I did!”

“So why’d y’come back?”

“I figured you’d get yourself into a fight!”

“Y’think I can’t handle myself?”

“No!”

Cash smiled to himself.

They dropped down to the streets and ducked into an alleyway. A few aliens ran past and Cash and Dallas relaxed.

“Thought y’didn’t wanna get involved.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t save your ass.”

Cash caught his breath and said, “Let’s head back t’th’ship. I know somewhere we can stay fer now.”

They left the alley and headed quickly back to the loading dock.